//------------------------------// // Borrowed Time: Experiment // Story: Imbalanced: New Age // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// I've got haaaangover, wooo oh. I've been drinking too much, for suuuuure. I've got haaaangover, wooo oh. I've got an empty cup, pour me some mooooore. Blinking in the soft light, I'm still waiting for my dazed body to start answering my call to action and slowly recalling what the hay happened 'yesterday'. *Smack!* "Huh?" The noise coming from some way away serves as an alarm clock, and I finally push myself up from the black floor. Walking towards the pillars separating the desert from the temple, it takes me a moment to chew through what I'm seeing. In the usually flat ashen desert with some small dunes and shallows, there stand knee-high buildings, ramps, and some U-shaped... well, U shapes. Everything is made of the silvery grey sand, and situated on a rectangle about five ponies long and three wide. In front of it, standing on his hind legs and holding a- Is that a golf club? I'm dead, there's no way this is real. Ah screw it, who am I to enforce sanity on any situation? -holding a golf club, Heavy Hoof is wiggling his hips and getting into a position for a put. Dat plot! "Did you make this, Heavy?" I interrupt him when he's finally ready to swing the club, backside slightly pushed out and... who cares about the rest of his posture? He lets the club go, drops on all fours, and faces me. "Morning, Blazing," he nods towards the minigolf course, "Yeah, I built this. There's isn't much to do around here now that I'm aware of myself all the time. When I was still mostly inside your head I could just turn off, but now I'm a normal pony, only dead." "Where did you get the clubs and the ball?" I just shrug, refusing to comment on the entire nonsense currently happening. "I don't know. I kind of wished for it and they appeared. I had to build the course myself, though." That sounds useful. Breakfast, APPEAR! Nothing. "I don't suppose you can summon me a toast, can you?" A piece of brown bread appears, hovering in front of my muzzle. It doesn't taste half bad. I have no doubts that if I had a real body it wouldn't have done anything to sate my hunger, but seeing as I am just a mostly-faded spirit it does my ethereal stomach good. "How was it?" asks Heavy. "A little overdone and dry, but I should have asked for butter. I forgive you. After all, it's your first time being a toaster." He chuckles. "So, what's on today's agenda besides waiting for lunch and dinner?" Back to business, I see. Well, I can't blame him for being bored. Thankfully, after a good rest I can think a little clearer than before. "First, I'll give the body another shot. If I'm strong enough to use it to some degree, then we move onto the map room." Heavy raises an eyebrow as we walk back inside the temple. "Oh, did you figure out how to find it?" "It's just like the body. What we're looking for is right here, I just need to call in into existence. I think the 'map' Void mentioned was some... place where he could search for a specific soul, either dead or living. Anyway, that won't mean anything unless I can get the body to work. Speaking of which," I poke Heavy's shoulder and the white spirit coat yields to my touch. I don't even hiss in pain this time, "Huh, feels muuuuch better than yesterday." "It's been four days outside since you went to sleep." "A toaster AND a clock? Is there something you can't do?" "Smack you with my club, apparently, because right now it's extremely tempting." The things I would do with your 'club', heheh... "Alright, alright, let's be serious for a moment," I focus on the memory of the artificial body that should be somewhere around here, and it appears. It's kinda creepy, like looking at a wax figure of myself. Damn, I should really hit the gym again and eat a little better. I'm all sinews, "Ta daa, easy. What do you think?" Heavy circles the body. "I think you could really use a good lunch, or several." "Look, I spent my final days being a Corrupted, and even while walking across whole Equestria I didn't exactly eat well. Sue me," I took a deep breath and slip inside the inanimate version of me, "Gmmgnh!" "Damn it, again?" Heavy stomps the floor in frustration. "Pheeeew, good to know that's still quite the ordeal," I manage to say on the second try, "Speaking, speaking, blah blah blah, testing testing. She sells seashells by the sea shore. Alright, breathing and talking systems online." Heavy jumps through me in a failed hug attempt. That, or he wants to be in this body too. I could give him a control of a leg, or a tail or something. I'm not too good at making my left ear flop, he can have that. "Right, incorporeal," he mutters and wipes a speck of nonexistent dust off of himself after standing back up. "Hnnnnnng!" I groan, attempting to move a leg. It sort of inches forward, but that's about it, "Damn this is hard!" another failed movement makes me scowl, "And I can't even wipe my forehead." Yep, I can't move, but I sure can make angry faces and sweat. Makes me feel like I'm back at the gym already. "Hmmmm," Heavy sighs, "I really wish I could help somehow." I used to be able to draw energy from magic or divine power, so why can't I do anything here in the alicorn of Death's seat of power? Even worse - now supposedly my seat of power. I just can't feel any true death, no variant of my old divine power or... ...there IS something deep inside me. To my probing mind it feels sticky, gripping, warm, all-encompassing, and all mine. There isn't much, but maybe I could use it to augment my strength and finally control this damn pile of horsemeat! "Daaaammit mooooove!" the leg shuffles forward. Like a cart pushed over the top of a hill and now gathering speed on its own, or like somepony finally dragging themselves out of a swamp with a loud 'pop', I take my first stumbling steps and look triumphantly at Heavy Hoof, "HA HAA! Finally, fina-bluuurgh!" My vision fades as I start choking. "Blazing! BLAZING!" I hear Heavy's panicking voice. Something's inside my throat. Can't breathe. Wait. Stop going crazy like an idiot! This has happened before. After all, corruption is Harmony's divine effect. Nerves this body didn't have until now form as I feel strength surging through me and my muscles transforming. With my first steps forward I sense myself walking with a hint of a gait in my wider hips. I yawn, and my muzzle opens into a ninety degree angle to allow the trio of tongues in my throat to slip out. What is refreshing is the clarity with which I can think. Before, thinking straight was a draining effort, but now I am just me, only- I look down on my chest and legs. -good old black, rope-y, drippy alicorn Corruptor. Turning towards Heavy Hoof slowly backing away, I summon black tentacles out of the floor which wrap around his legs. He struggles a little, but I'm gentle. "Welp, looks like I ruined the body Void left for me." "Blazing?" Heavy stops trying to move. "Oh, sorry for scaring you. You surrounded by wriggling tentacles was a thing I've been wanting to see for a while." I release him. Interesting, controlling the tendrils spawning outside my body is much like using telekinesis, only -it's hard to explain- as if I had a completely new set of brain cells which work just like the telekinesis controlling ones. The ones which I can grow on my body still feel weird, though. Heavy comes over and pokes me. This time his hoof doesn't simply pass through. "Strange, I can touch you now. Do you feel okay?" "Better then at any point since my resurrection. My best guess is that corruption, as a partially divine influence, somehow latched onto the mashup of divinity that I, as an alicorn, am right now. Just like true death, Hope, and Despair, now I get corruption in the mix. At least I don't look like a skinny dried raisin anymore." "Uhm, yeah," Heavy gives me an examining look, "Definitely. When you leave the body next time, just give me five minutes alone with it or something." "Deal, you can snuggle with it whenever I'm asleep. Just clean it up when you're done." "Fiiine, mom," Heavy rolls his eyes theatrically. His seriousness returns quickly, "Ready for the map now?" I shrug and close my eyes. It's much easier to focus that way. "I suppose so. I'm not sure how long I can keep this new body going, but I'm not tired enough to go to sleep again, and I find minigolf boring to death." So, a map. A map of souls. What would it look like? Like a sky full of stars, possibly? Billions of tiny dots, dying ones fading nad new ones appearing every second. "Did somepony order mist?" I hear Heavy's question. Everything is suddenly milky white. Were it not for Heavy's blue mane, I wouldn't be able to see him standing next to me. "I was only thinking about how many souls could there be in the world." "Oh yes," Heavy taps his forehooves together, "Not only those alive now, but those in the underworld, those still haunting the real world, and those who are just blobs of spiritual power too weak to form a full-fledged soul. Enough to look like princess Luna's mane." That earthpony is a damn genius. "No, not Luna's mane. Far, far more. Enough white lights to form, if smudged into one place, mist." "You mean that every little speck of this mess is a soul? Here?" "No, as you said, it's a map. These are representations, and Void would easily be able to identify every single one, know who it is and where it is, I think. But I'm not him. To me this is just uniform white sneeze covering everything." "Actually," Heavy pokes my side, and small tentacles immediately grab his hoof, "Let go!" "I'm not in control of all the reflexes yet, sorry." The tendrils withdraw and my sleek black coat looks as if nothing happened. Heavy leads me towards a more 'dense' clump of white. "More souls gathered in one place. A city maybe?" Looking around, my eyes slowly get used to brighter and dimmer parts of the mist. "Could be," I nod, "Ah hah! I've got an idea." Souls of mortals might meld together from this point of view, but what about the immortals? Divine power leaves a... stain on the soul, and those can be sensed as colours in appropriate surroundings. Who could I find in this day and age? Celestia, Luna, and Twilight of course. Cadence in theory as well, but I've met her like three times in my life so that could be difficult. Does any soul look like a book? Maybe I should look for purple, maybe- The mist swirls, and suddenly there is a clump of dots I can at least differentiate from each other like grains of sand. Among them floats a shimmering purple dot. "What is that?" asks Heavy. "I think I've found Twilight Sparkle. She should be in Ponyville, so if I my guess is right, then- HAHA!" The Ponyville node of souls moves aside, giving space to a different, smaller one with two coloured spirits this time. One is dark blue with a bright white core, and one is like a burning flame. Luna and Celestia. "Canterlot?" asks Heavy. "Yeah. So, now that I can at least get some directions from this 'map', what do we do?" "That is up to you. You are the new alicorn of Death, after all." I can't help feeling something about that statement is wrong, but can't put a hoof on it. "I thought Void left a bucket list or something." "Yeah, a whole quest log," Heavy shakes his head, "It's for me, starts with 'Wait until' and ends with 'Blazing Light or new alicorn of Death appears'." So much for finding out why Void went through all that trouble to give me a chance. I remember something about him not wanting all his knowledge to be lost, but at this point I can barely recall even my last few days alive, and I was there. I think my botched resurrection has something to do with that. Fine, what do I want then? Right now, I just want to test my limits. Can I actually get out of here? What if I can and I can't get back again? Alright, in case I'm stuck, where do I want to be stuck? Out of the places I can reach from here. Canterlot, definitely. My goal should be Manehattan, but I can't differentiate between souls enough to target it. From Canterlot I can get there and talk to Bucket, regain my bearings and resources, and tell him what happened to Cromach. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. If I can return here from the real world easily, I'll know I have a base of operations where I can get a good spiritual dinner and rest. So, just like I zoomed in on Canterlot, I zoom further in on Luna. My Corrupted disguise is top-tier, but in case I end up in the middle of the day standing next to a princess I'd like to avoid the one able to wipe me from the face of the planet faster. At least I might be able to nullify Luna's magic for long enough to talk. Celestia will just burn me with her divine power, and I doubt I have enough control over myself to absorb it right now. I feel almost physical presence of the alicorn of the Night. Her blue spiritual body forms from the mist, and when I touch her, it's as if I've just fallen into cold water. "I freaking HATE teleportation!" My surroundings settle down from their brief career as a blur, and I'm standing in chilly, refreshing air. "Oh, hello," a surprised male voice from nearby greets me, "Is that how you got up here?" "Yes, sort of a mistake in dir-aaaaaaaaaaaah!" I freeze in place. The dark shape to the left is unmistakably the Canterlot mountain, the talking voice belongs to a male pony wearing a wool-laden jacket and standing next to a bag while holding a metal brush on a long wire. Hey, I stumbled upon a chimney sweep, cool. That, in itself, would not be a problem, not at all. The fact that I seem to have ended on a slippery, sloping roof of some at least four-story tall building IS. Corrupted or not, my uncontrollable fear of heights kicks in instantly and the thick entwined strings of muscles forming my new legs turn to spaghetti. "W-w-w-w-w-?" I'm sliding backwards! I'M SLIDING BACKWARDS! "Umm, can I help you? I've got a ladder on the other side of the roof-" "Aaaaaaaaa!" "Calm down, Blazing. You've got claws, tentacles. We've seen Corrupted who could grow suction cups. And the roof is practically horizontal." TELL THAT TO MY LEGS, HEAVY! Tentacles, hold me! A thick one sprouts from the roof behind me slowly sliding down and- "Eep!" -its pointy knob slips with unprecedented accuracy where sun doesn't shine and Crom has his parking spot. It does stop my unwanted descent, though. Always look on the bright side. Casual, as if nothing happened, I clear my throat. "Well hello, mister chimney sweeper guy. Forgive my rude behaviour, please. I seem to have made a mistake in targeting my teleportation spell and ended up here. Anyway, is this really Canterlot?" "Yes, yes it is, sir," answers the pegasus, "You mind me asking, but is that tentacle inside your-" "NOIT'SNOT!" It immediately melts, and I stretch my hind legs to gain some footing. A gust of cold, mountain wind makes me shiver, look into the distance, see the other roofs dotting the near area, and keel over. Me-dammit! Why is there rime on this thing when it's late spring? "Altitude." I recover at the edge of the roof, wipe my forehead, and look down. "Phew, close-blurgh!" The world spins, and I swing my forelegs for the gutter, the last thing to grab before the inevitable splat. I miss. "Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc-" Instead of the short burst of pain and darkness, I feel as if I jumped into a pool of icy water. Everything is black, I can't breathe, and just flail for a moment. Fortunately, as bad as I'm with heights, I'm that good at swimming, and my body reacts on reflex. Grasping for the surface, I pull myself up from... ...umm, a pool of black... me? Dragging myself up from the black puddle, I watch my body reconstruct itself from formless goo. Heavy, did I just see what I think I did? "To me, you went splat all over the cobblestones, then your legs came out of the mess followed by the rest of yourself until there was no goop left. To be frank, it looked kinda creepy." So, another Corruptor trait. A useful one this time. Maybe I'll be able to move fast through corrupted soil one day. That could come in handy. "You okay down there?" I hear the pegasus' voice from waaaay above. "Absolutely fine!" I call back, "Just practicing my pool diving for summer." "Smooth, Blazing. Smoooooooth." Shut up. Aaaanyway, Heavy, how far can you go from me? Can you like check what's behind the next corner? "Nope, for me it's like hovering just above your horn. I can see everything at once, though. Took a while of getting used to." Yeah, just like my tracing spell. Speakng of which, I restart my tactical vision. It's slow, giving me reflection about once per second. That means I have very little magic to use it. Better not waste what little I possess at the moment then. Watch my back, Heavy, just in case. "That's what I wanted to hear." Perv. "Are YOU talking?" Retracted. Feeling sort of nervous without my three-sixty sight superimposed over my normal one, I step into the streets of Canterlot. At first I was a bit worried that my misfortune would be a tourist attraction, but a chill runs down my spine as I walk into the first larger street. Yeah, this is not the Canterlot I remember. Just like Vanhoover, the city which during my time brimmed with life is now a wasteland in comparison. I'm somewhere near the center of the half-circle with constitutes the white city, and the promenade I'm on hosts at most several dozen ponies. Some are stall vendors, some are just walking around, but there are just so few of them... so little. Another reminder what Corrupted managed to accomplish before Nightshade's rise. Corrupted are around as well. A Hunter is sleeping in the shadow of a stall, two others are enjoying themselves in an alley, carefully watched by a curious earthpony. One by one, the lights inside my head flare into existence, and soon I can sense Corrupted in the vicinity just like before, but without the distracting whispering making me slowly go mad. Maybe I'm getting the benefits of corruption without the drawbacks? Or possibly it's just temporary, who knows? Damn it, why did I have to become a walking, talking mushroom? All I'm missing now is a wide-brimmed hat. My stomach rumbles. Strolling through the streets, I breathe in the atmoshpere of the city. At first glance, it does feel like a graveyard, but with the presence of Corrupted I feel all around, and after watching an unsupervised teenage colt buy an apple to offer it to a female Protector while blushing like a tomato, I change my mind. It's really spring, and not just for nature. Ponykind is slowly recovering from the horrors of last two centuries, and while it will definitely take time, we will rise again, stronger than before. Heh, the young pony clearly wasn't expecting to be tackled on the ground and kissed and nuzzled to submission. He seems to know the limits of what he can do with a Corrupted, and leaves after a short and vigorous makeout session, only few new oily strands of hair in his coat. Food is becoming an issue. I don't really dare break my current state by eating corrupted berries hanging on trees carefully planted in each street. Pony food should be safer, but where to get it? Steal? If no other opportunity presents itself... Perhaps I should try to return to the Final Sanctuary? The first test worked, so there's no need to overdo it. After few minutes of focusing, meditating, imagining, and generally making other constipated faces at a wall in a side alley, I am pretty certain that I have no clue on how to get back. However, not everything is lost, and my careful planning bears fruit. Caravans moving through Equestria always need protection, and I will doubtlessly find one headed to Manehattan willing to take a Corrupted like me with them in exchange for food. Back on the main street, I stop a stallion passing by. "Excuse me, where can I find some center of caravan travel?" "Woooow, a talking Corrupted," he stares at me in amazement, then gathers himself, "Oh, sorry. Just keep following this street to the western gate. There's a circular plaza by it where all the caravaneers gather. It's easier than to drive through the whole city." "Thank you." He nods and we part ways. Close to an hour and several stomach cramps later, four city blocks clearly demolished to make space for the caravans greet me. It's like a city within a city. Vendor stalls are numerous, ponies about to leave Canterlot and those just arriving are milling around, and in the center of the hubbub is a wooden construction with slots for city names and times being tended to by a hovering pegasus switching numbers of departure times and caravan names. Daaamn, I could cash in the promise that pony I saved near Vanhoover gave me about his mercenary company and stuff... Yeah, I don't recall either of the names. Crap. After searching the main board for caravans to Manehattan, I go check on the two about to leave in few hours. One is a passenger transport and one is some sort of ore delivery. At least one of them could be in need of another guard. "Look, miss, we don't need somepony like you. If you want to go with us, then it'll be as a passenger and that costs bits," I hear a gruff voice. "You. Write. Need. Help. Me. Guard. You. Give. Food. You. Teach. Words," a slow and measured female voice answers. A Corrupted mare -a Hunter is my best guess- I cannot sense is trying to talk to an armed earthpony standing under a 'Help Wanted' sign. As I come closer, I notice thin veins of white hair in her coat and things become clear. She's a Separated, and that guy isn't too keen on having her around. Being the idiot and gentlepony in one that I am, I pretend to casually walk by and then stop in wide-eyed amazement. "Celestia's donut-filled plot, you're gonna have an easy ride. Lucky bastard." "What? What are you talking about?" the earthpony gives me a stern glare. "I mean, you managed to hitch a Separated for your caravan. At this point you can pretty much let all your other guards go." "How come?" "These guys are like Corrupted, only smarter. I've met one on a caravan from Vanhoover, and that guy wiped the floor with six Corrupted who attacked us at night." "Ohhhh really," he looks at the Separated mare with a new and nervous smile, "I apologize, miss, I must have misjudged you. So, let's make a deal. You'll get your food and I'm sure to find somepony the teach you some new words. You know, I'm feeling generous - how about I pay you fifteen shiny gold coins for your trouble as well." She looks at me hesitantly, clearly surprised by the sudden change of attitude. I nod. "Agreement. Finished." Leaving the two behind and ticking off my good deed for this year, I return to my search for a ride to Manehattan. She must be a fresh Separated who has very little idea about how things work outside of their home. He's clearly ripping her off as hard as he can, but as far as I know Separated don't care much about money, so the food and knowledge are far more important than the few bits she gets in comparison to everyone else on guard duty. My head spins, and my legs lose all their strength. I'm completely exhausted all of a sudden, as if I hit a wall. A second later as I keel over, hit the stone road, and splatter around. The now familiar effect of swimming through ice water refreshes me slightly, and I- "CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!" -fall ten pony heights straight on my barrel. "Hey, we're back," says Heavy, looking at the ceiling of the Final Sanctuary. "I'm totally stoked about it," my spirit form leaves the body, and I stretch. Being ethereal sure feels relaxing after 'wearing' a suit of flesh. Looking at myself lying spread-eagle on the black floor with tongue stuck out and a dizzy expression, I nod to Heavy. "You can have your fun with it. I think I need some rest after all that walking outside." "Since you could move really well this time, maybe you'll be much better after some sleep, possibly even with some of Void's- I mean your power back?" comments Heavy. "I doubt that. The fact that I could even move was caused by corruption. I'm ecstatic about the sleep idea, though, I feel as if I ran a marathon." "You know, you said that a way to strengthen a soul was to let it do what makes it happy, self-actualization or something." I ponder it for a while. "Yeah, that's a good suggestion," raising my foreleg, I summon my journal and a pen, "Writing my thoughts down is pretty much the only thing I've been doing with any kind of regularity. Might be helpful. Plus, having some sort of a plan can't hurt. Oh, and one more thing." "What?" "I feel like a real dick asking for it." "Come on, Blazing, at worst I say no." "Umm, lunch?" [Blazing's Entry] It's been quite the ride recently, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. A lot of things about my body still feel very weird. My divine power is nonexistent, and Void's pocket dimension listens to Heavy rather than me. One thing I couldn't tell Heavy is that despite what I did today, I don't feel stronger, quite the opposite. I am firmer, definitely, but at the same time I feel more 'faded' than before. It's strange and hard to explain. No point in speculating too much for now. So, what to do next? The best thing that came out of today's experiment is that I reminded myself how to sense singular minds of Corrupted. Why is that, I hear you ask? Because I might be able to use the map to locate Corrupted souls and distinguish them from ponies. That means that if I can find a node on the map where there are the most ponies mixed with Corrupted, I can find Manehattan. If I can find it, I can teleport somewhere in it. If I can get there, I can persuade Bucket again that it's really me even in this fully corrupted body. Then, I need to check on Crimson Heart's progress with Guiding, and... And now that none but those I show myself to know I'm alive, I can finally start working on finding out what the hell is going on. [End Entry]